Last month or so I have done few blog posts which explained about Azure information Protection (AIP)’s capabilities. In there, I mainly talked about how to protect sensitive data in organization when we know the data type, audience and permissions. 

Step-by-Step Guide: Protect confidential data using Azure information protection – http://www.rebeladmin.com/2018/12/step-step-guide-protect-confidential-data-using-azure-information-protection/ 

Step-by-Step Guide: Automatic Data Classification via Azure Information Protection – http://www.rebeladmin.com/2018/12/step-step-guide-automatic-data-classification-via-azure-information-protection/

Step-by-Step Guide: On-premise Data Protection via Azure Information Protection Scanner – http://www.rebeladmin.com/2018/12/step-step-guide-premise-data-protection-via-azure-information-protection-scanner/

Step-by-Step Guide: How to protect confidential emails using Azure information protection? – http://www.rebeladmin.com/2019/01/step-step-guide-protect-confidential-emails-using-azure-information-protection/ 

When we work with information, sometime we have to share information with internal/external peoples, organizations. Usually It is hard to apply strict data protection polices if it’s not sensitive data. With document tracking, we can review who access shared document, when and from where. It also allows to setup notifications so we know when someone access it. if the document is starting to appear in places where it shouldn’t, we can revoke the permissions as well. In this blog post I am going to demonstrate how we can do this. 

Prerequisites 

1. We need supported subscription first. This feature is available under Enterprise Mobility + Security E3 & E5, Office 365 Enterprise plans. Or else it is available as standalone solution https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/pricing/details/information-protection/

2. We need Microsoft Azure Information Protection Viewer app https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=54536&WT.mc_id=rss_alldownloads_all or Azure Information Protection client https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=53018 installed in the pc. It will allow to view, protect office documents using office apps. 

In my demo pc, I have installed Azure Information Protection client.

Once agent & subscription is ready,

1. Open up document that you like to share using office app (Word, Excel etc.) and then click on Protect | Custom Permissions  

2. It will open up new window, click on protect with custom permission. Then under select permissions, choose the permissions level you like to apply.